Soap holder



March 23 1926. 1,577,861

- B. L. HENRY SOAP HOLDER Filed March 9v 1923 INVENTO ATTORNEY PatentedMar. 23, 1926.

UNITED sTAr s PATENT OFFICE.

BEUL A'E L. HENRY, 015 NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH T0 EDWARDB. TWOMBLY, OF SUMMIT, NEW JERSEY.

soar HOLDER.

Application 'liled March 29, 1923. Serial No. 628,672.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, BEULAH L. HENRY, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York. in the county of New York and State of New York.have invented neav and useful Improvements in Soap Holders, of which thefollowing is a specification.

' This invention relates to soap holders and has for its primary objectthe provision of a device of this character including a soft rubbercontainer for a cake of soap, the pores of the soft rubber containerbeing so formed as to permit water to come in contact with the soap whenthe device is manipulated or sub ectcd to the action of friction andpressure during the act of forming a lather and to normally seal thesoap from direct contact with the water when immersed therein, therebypermitting the device to float upon the surface of the water whileholding the soap in a sealed condition in the container where it willnot be unduly wasted away through direct contact with the water.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of thischaracter which shall be simple of construction, strong and durable,capable of being readily washed as desired and maintained in a sanitarycondition.

A still further object of the invention is to provide novel means forsealing the corn tainer and for facilitating the operation of opening orclosingv the same. 7

A still further object'of the invention is to provide novel means whichwill not be affected by water for maintaining the sponge in closedcondition.

With these and other objects in View, the invention resides in certainnovel construction and combination and arrangement of parts, theessential features of which are hereinafter fully described. areparticularly pointed out in the appended claims, and are illustrated inthe'accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of thecontainen.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section therethrough.

Figure 3. is a horizontal section on line 3-3 of Figure 2. i

Fi re 4 is a view similar to Figure 2 but show ng a slightly modifiedform of the invention.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail vertical sectional view through a portionof the sponge.

In carrying the invention into practice, I use a body or container 5 ofa thickness capable of permitting a cake of soap to be interposedbetween the walls thereof in a manner and for a purpose to behereinafter explained. At one end the body is slit in its length as at 6to permit the container to be opened and a cake of soap B inserted inthe space C centrally of the container.

The walls of the slit 6 have respectively secured thereto in anysuitable well-known I manner strips of rubber 8 and 9, the sameextending for the full length of the slit and provided with tabs 9having aligned perforations 10. These tabs are exposed from i the openside of the slit 6 and are adapted to be freely manipulated when openingthe container for the insertion of the soap B. The aligned perforations1'0 serve to permit the device to be hung from a suitable support andsubjected to a drying process. The strip 9 is provided with a resilienthead 11 adapted to engage in a resilient socket 12 on the strip 8.Immediately at one side of the head 11 and formed on the strip 9 is agroove 12 which extends the full width of the slit and which is adaptedto receive a head 13 on the strip 8 when the walls' of the slit 6 arebrought togetherto close the con,

tainer. Due to the position of the head 11 and socket 12 it will beobserved that when same'are brought into fastened relation to each otherthe rib 13 will be brought into sealed engagement with the groove 12.This seals the slit 6 against free passage of water into the space C andacts in conjunction with the porous formation of the container to,prevent the soap B from unduly wasting away and being directly subjectedto water when the container is permitted to float upon the surfacethereof. Due to the porous formation of the container the latter isbuoyant and should the pores of the container beof such 0 enconstruction as to permit the water to reely pass into the space- C, itfollows that the water would always be in free contact with the son andthe latter being soluble would un ul waste away. I am able to preservethe li e of the soap by sealing the slit 6 of the container andassociating same with a finely porous body whose pores are calculated toonly permit a sufficient supply of water to contact with the soap whenthe container is subjected to the action of friction.

In the modified form of my invention shown in Figure 4, the container 5is provided with a slit 6, the walls of which are respectivelyassociated with rubber strips 8 and 9 the latter carrying a socket 15secured to one wall of the slit by an enameled cap 16. The other of saidstrips is provided with a resilient head 17 secured to the mating wallof the slit by an enameled cap 18. This form is otherwise the same asthe first described embodiment of the invention.

When inserting a cake of soap in the space C the companion strips 8 and9 are pulled apart to expand the mouth of slit 6 toa size where a cakeof soap may be freely extended therethrough and firmly seated in thespace C. As stated, the pores of the body 5 are of such size as toretard free passage of Water therethrough but when the container isrubbed between the hands, sufficient friction and pressure are set up topermit the water to be brought in contact with the soap so as to createthe desired quantity of lather. At the requisite time the soap may beremoved from the container and the latter sterilized and then dried sothat it may be kept in a sanitary condition.

With further reference to the cellular formation of the container, andthe sizes of the cells, whereby to prevent free passage of water intothe soap space when the container is floating on a body of water, itshall be understood that I mean to construct the cells so that theatmospheric air trapped therein will be normally suflicient to obstructthe passage of water in its course to the soap space. However, whenpressure is brought to bear against the walls of the container, the airis expelled from the aforesaid cells to permit the water to circulateover the soap to be agitated by the cellular formation of the containerto quickly produce a lather.

l Vhile I have described what I deem to be the most desirable embodimentof my invention, it is obvious that many of the details may bevariedwithout in any way departing from the spirit of my invention, and Itherefore do not limit myself to the exact details of constructionherein set forth nor to anything less than the whole of my inventionlimited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is:

1. A soap-holder formed of cellular material having a central spacebounded by the walls of the body, and a mouth opening to said space,flexible strips of impervious rubber secured to the walls of said mouth,and co-acting elements carried by said strips for holding said mouth inclosed position.

2. A soap-holder formed of cellular material having a central spacebounded by the walls of the body, and a mouth opening to said space,flexible strips of impervious rubber secured to the walls of said mouth,a transverse groove formed in one of said strips, a transverse ribformed on the other of said strips for co-action with said groove forsealing said mouth, and co-acting elements carried by said strips forholding said rib and the groove in sealed condition.

3. A soap-holder comprising a body of sponge rubber having a centralspace, and a mouth for the passage of a. cake of soap into said space.sheets of impervious rubber integrally united to said body and liningsaid month, said sheets being equip ed with head and socket fasteningmeans or hold mg sald mouth closed, and havlng exposed tabs to permitthe latter to be manually opened.

In testimony whereof I hereby affixed my signature.

BEULAH L. HENRY.

